Suspect in Edinburgh Attacks Charged, Faces Anti-Muslim Hatred Claims

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A 36-year-old white Scottish man has been charged with attacking five people, including three Muslims, in Edinburgh amid concerns over a surge in anti-Muslim hate crimes.

Footage posted online showed a bare-chested man, said to be the suspect, roaming the streets of Edinburgh with a large weapon.

A police statement said they received multiple emergency calls late Friday from people reporting 'violent attacks including threats, robbery and vandalism across Edinburgh, with five men injured'.

The victims, two aged 22, and others aged 24, 27, and 39, sustained various injuries, police said. Three were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the statement said, adding the incident is being investigated by the counter-terrorism unit and other police officers.

Police Scotland said officers had arrested a 36-year-old white Scottish man and there was 'no further threat to the public'.

'A report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal, and the individual will appear at court in due course.' A police statement said they received multiple emergency calls late Friday from people reporting 'violent attacks including threats, robbery and vandalism across Edinburgh, with five men injured'.

The victims, two aged 22, and others aged 24, 27, and 39, sustained various injuries, police said. Three were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the statement said, adding the incident is being investigated by the counter-terrorism unit and other police officers.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the suspect 'appears to be motivated by anti-Muslim hatred' and vowed to 'face the full force of the law'.

Scotland's First Minister John Swinney said he was 'deeply concerned', adding 'there is no place for violence, racism or intolerance in our country'.

The Scottish Association of Mosques and the anti-Islamophobia non-profit Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) said several of the victims were Muslims.

The incident comes as immigration and diversity in the UK take the spotlight, with claims that far-right agitators are fuelling racist sentiment, after a number of reported high-profile incidents in the region.

In the Northern Irish capital Belfast, two nights of disorder last week followed a knife attack, allegedly perpetrated by a Sudanese refugee, that was captured on camera and went viral online.

And as the case unfolds, police are urging people not to speculate or spread rumors on social media.

### MEND Calls for 'Islamophobic, far-right terror' Probe

The anti-Islamophobia non-profit Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) has called for a probe into the incident, labelling the alleged attacks 'Islamophobic, far-right terror'.